GM, Free Agents. It’s Tuesday of Champions League Final Week.

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Liverpool are cooking in the midfield department. Looks like it’ll be brand new for next season.

Let’s get to it:

• Liverpool sign Mac Allister; 2 more new midfielders on the way 👷 

  • Who are they? 👀

  • Strengths & weaknesses 💪 📉 

  • How do all 3 fit together? 🧩 

LIVERPOOL MIDFIELD UNDER CONSTRUCTION 👷 🚧

Liverpool have signed Alexis Mac Allister. It appears to be a bargain, as some were quoting prices of close to £80mm for the World Cup winner this summer, but it seems theyhave gotten the deal done for closer to £50mm.

Next up, it appears the Reds will be adding 2 more new faces to their midfield in the form of Khéphren Thuram & Manu Koné. Let’s get you introduced.

Khéphren Thuram 🔴 ⚫️ 

Name sound familiar? Yup, you guessed correctly. He is the 22 year-old son of the hallowed Lillian Thuram (& the brother of Gladbach striker Marcus Thuram).

Standing at a towering 6’3” (192cm), he is quite the presence in midfield. Despite his size, he is actually more of a box-to-box #8 than a defensive #6.

Strengths 💪 

Ball-carrying

• The first thing that you notice when watching Thuram is his ability to carry the ball for very long distances upfield. As a giant in midfield, you would expect him to just be an anchor a la Fabinho, but no.

• His size helps him ride tackles easily.

• Similarly to Declan Rice, he loves to fill that space on the lefthand side of the midfield, receive the ball, & progress up the field with the ball at his feet. He takes on his man, runs into space, & likes to attack the goal.

Goal threat

• Once in the attacking third, he loves to get involved.

• His goal threat is purely a result of his directness & willingness to take on his man.

Weaknesses 📉 

Defense

• He is a solid defender, but it is actually not his strong suit.

• He is 74th percentile for interceptions, but well-below the 50th percentile for all tackling statistics + aerial duels.

  • A bit strange that a player so tall is so poor in the air

TLDR; ⚖️ 

Thuram is a left-sided, box-to-box #8 who has the physical presence to cover space & defend. When he intercepts the ball, his first thought is to go forward— not circulate possession. He wants to attack the goal immediately. This is exactly how Liverpool play, & would suit them to a tee.

Manu Koné ⚫️⚪️🟢 

22 year-old Manu Koné is a 6’1” physical presence at the base of Borussia Mönchengladbach’s midfield. Can he replace Fabinho at Liverpool?

Although he is slightly smaller in stature when compared to Thuram, he is much more of a defensive-minded #6 midfielder than his compatriot.

Strengths 💪 

Defense

• Koné excels in tackles— coming in at the 75th percentile for both “tackles per 90” as well as “% of dribblers tackled”

  • He loves to use his big frame to get between his man & the ball.

Ball circulation

• When he wins the ball, he tends to beat a man & drop it off to someone else.

  • He also has the ability to beat a man & carry the ball upfield (see progressive carry stats above). This risk-taking can get him into trouble, though.

Short passing

• He ranks in the 81st percentile at 91.5% of short passes completed.

Weaknesses 📉 

Aerial duels

• Despite his big stature, he (like Thuram) is very poor in aerial duels (22nd percentile for % of aerial duels won).

Ball security

• This is a bit of an alarming stat— he ranks in the 1st percentile (worse than 99% of others in his position) in miscontrols at 2.8 per 90.

• He also ranks in the 3rd percentile for dispossessions at 1.73 per 90.

Long passes

• He ranks fairly poorly with 65.2% of long passes completed (53 percentile).

TLDR; ⚖️ 

Koné is a defensive midfielder who is not afraid to get his hands dirty. He is great at tackling dribblers to win the ball back, as well as throwing himself in front of passes & shots to block them. He is never afraid to take on his defender with a dribble, which sometimes results in unnecesary possession losses.

He is at his best when he wins the ball & makes a short pass to a teammate. Otherwise he risks losing possession by trying to do “too much”. He can certainly be trained to play the Fabinho role.

How do they all fit together? 🧩 

Mac Allister has played mostly as a #8 for Brighton, but when Lallana got injured in the second half of the season, he excelled as a #10. He helps tick over possession & will offer lots of threat in front of goal (final ball, long shots, etc.).

Thuram would be given the liberty to maraud up the left side, joining into the attack a la Wijnaldum. Defense is not his specialty, but his huge frame allows him to cover ground for getting back on counter attacks.

Koné would likely be the resting anchor-type #6, as Fabinho has been for Liverpool over the past 5 seasons. He could be trained as a balling-winning specialist, who then drops it off to his teammates (enter, Trent Alexander-Arnold) who progress the ball upfield.

Positioning issue? 🤔 

All three of these midfield signings are right footers that like to hang out on the left side of midfield. This could be a problem, but likely won’t be.

• This could be remedied by the fact that Mac Allister will likely be in more advanced positions than the other two. He played more centrally/to the right side once he started playing #10 (after Lallana’s injury in February).

• Koné will likely be trained to sit back at the base of the midfield & act as a destroyer who shields the back 4, then dumps the ball off to Liverpool’s creators. He was often on the left side due to playing in a double pivot at Gladbach.

• Thuram will be perfect for the box to box role that has liberty to attack the goal, but the athleticism to get back on defense to cover for Liverpool’s extremely advanced fullbacks.

Assessing the signings in context 🔍️ 

Liverpool is a team that loves to win the ball back quickly, bomb up pitch for a counter attack, create quick chances, counterpress, & start again.

Mac Allister has great end product (goals, not assists), which will be great for capitalizing on sustained pressure. Liverpool have missed having goals in their midfield for the past few seasons. He can easily score 10+ goals for them in the PL.

Thuram brings back the athleticism as a box-to-box that Liverpool have missed since losing Wijnaldum, & the physical decline of Henderson/Milner. He will enable their fullbacks to get forward too.

Fabinho’s physical decline has been precipitous, & has resulted in Liverpool’s backline being left extremely exposed in the past 2 seasons. Koné can bring back the steel to Fabinho’s lone #6 “destroyer” role.

Overall, all three signings scream “Liverpool midfield”— strength in duels, athleticism, fearlessness to take on a man, progressive ball-carrying, & most importantly high energy.

It is yet to be seen if their tactical discipline will immediately click with Liverpool’s gameplan, but the profile seem to be perfect. One thing that we can be sure of— Klopp knows how to get players to buy in to his system. Exciting times for Liverpool fans!

In the meantime, go watch Jose Mourinho’s Roma vs. Sevilla. You deserve it.

—The Gaffer

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